John Paczkowski over at AllThingsD reported on some interesting data today regarding iPads and their use in the business world. There have been plenty of reports recently showing the iPad has a stranglehold on the tablet market, so it is not earth shattering that more business users are using iPads as well. Even when the report states more than 95 percent of business uers choose the iPad, you figure, "Well, that is impressive, but pretty much in-line with what we've seen so far this year."

Well, what is extra-surprising is that, according to the data Paczkowski gleaned from Good Tehcnology (PDF), Android tablet activations in the business world have dropped during the second quarter of 2011, while iPad activations have grown. To put a finer point on the situation, Good Tehcnology reports that during second quarter there were more iPad activations than the total number of Android tablets and smartphone activtions. Combined.

Now, in a phone call with AllThingsD, John Herrema, Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Good Technology, thinks this disparity is due to the growing trend of “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) in today's corporate IT world. Good Technology handles mobile device management services for 49 of the Fortune 100 companies and 182 of the Fortune 500 companies; that is a signifcant portion of some of the top companies in teh world. “We attribute the large gap between iPad and Android tablet activations to the combination of user preference among our ‘BYOD’ users and large deployments of company-owned iPads," Herrema said.

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer, in an earnings call earlier this week, summed up the phenomenon by stating, "86 percent of the Fortune 500 are deploying or testing iPad within their enterprises" and "we have seen iPad used in the enterprise in ways we could have never imagined.”

You and us both, Peter. For anyone following the industry since IT became a real job, the idea of BYOD in top corporations is kind of a "wow, times have changed" moment; but the notion that an Apple product is the go-to business device in its class and is setting the pace in the corporate world is truly is a magical and revolutionary concept.